Another Aus-map to add to this blog's growing collection of graphically re-used and reinterpreted maps of Australia. Good to see Tasmania put to good use too.
A dedicated gallery of the images listed here soon to appear on 1+1=3... stay tuned.
The image at left created by Martin Sharp and spied in last weekend's Fairfax 'Good Weekend'.
Another highlight (see previous post) of our Docklands precinct is Bruce Armstrong's wonderful (25 metre high) sculpture, Bunjil – also the highest sculpture in the Southern Hemisphere. Armstrong's sculpture has a truly captivating and awe-inspiring presence. It looms large on the city horizon and really is a very big and quite beautiful bird.
One per-cent of development costs in the Docklands’ precinct have been put towards towards urban art (the PDF there is worth downloading). Whilst the placement of much of the art in the area seems a little slap-dash and much of it is probably quite a mish-mash of disparate styles – when the art is as terrific as Bunjil, you can't help but be thankful that some interesting art has been given some air in public.
Anecdotally, many friends, acquaintances, colleagues and family members really seem to like Bunjil. Just about everyone is a fan – except perhaps those in the art 'industry'.
The Sony Bravia 'bouncing balls' may have started a delicious trend. Above is the new TVC for Schweppes created by George Patterson Y&R and director Garth Davis. Shot at 10,000 frames per second and featuring the sublime music of The Cinematic Orchestra, this is simply stunning and quite deserving of the praise being heaped upon it about the place.
Read more at indents.tv. If you like what you see, The large QuickTime file there is worth the download.
Related (created by the same agency and the product is a fizzy drink): the new Victoria Bitter Orchestra TVC. How to make a memorable ad for a well-known 'blokey' product that has a famous associated signature tune? Have some skilled musicians play the beer! See below:
The image is of uncertain provenance (who ever created it used coloured pencils?) – but it certainly shows the scale of Terra Australis when overlayed upon Europe. See larger size here.
Note to visitors from overseas (I hear this quite a bit): "I'm keen to go to Uluru, Broome and the Gold Coast, maybe Tasmania"... that's a long, long way intrepid traveller.
Via Happy Antipodean.
I've always been intrigued by how the physical shape of the Australian continent is creatively and graphically repurposed. Whether it's cartoonists using the map of Australia as a head of the 'typical Aussie battler/everyman' (but what of Tasmania?) or used to symbolise Australian wine (an Aus-map shaped drop splatter or an Australia-shaped vine leaf), or even an Australia-shaped rock (the outback), the shape of our island home has an indelible graphic presence in our culture. I know other cultures do this a bit too, but we seem to do it quite alot (and I get a real kick out of it).
Sometimes these repurposed shapes, via a clever use of visual language, succinctly and memorably communicate a concept better than words ever would – at a glance too (see the examples at left).
Aah... the skill of a good communication designer. Read on to see the beginnings of a gallery of gleeful, visual language-based Aus-map bastardisations.
Continue reading "Our Island Home: Grown, Barbecued, Spilt, Rocked & Eaten" »
Over the past few years there's been much development going on in Melbourne's (reclaimed) Docklands precinct – some of which, deservedly, has been loosely called 'developer schlock'. Standing head and shoulders above much of the architectural goings-on there is Webb Bridge, a pedestrian and cycle-bridge designed by Sydney artist Robert Owen in conjunction with architects Denton Corker Marshall. It's one of the highlights of the area for me. (A post on another Docklands favourite coming soon).
From Architectural Record: the "design recalls an aboriginal eel trap, except that it is fabricated with a hooped steel frame tied by flat, laser-cut steel straps rather than woven sticks". A stunningly designed thoroughfare and an immense pleasure to walk or cycle through (so much so I always go back and forth a few times).
The above photo is by Shannon McGrath. Another of her great shots of Webb Bridge here. Even more photos in the continuation (see the eel in the eel trap).
Aunty Jack introduces colour TV to Australia in 1975. This is a great example of cutting-edge colour broadcast technology – used creatively - from 'way back then'.
If you're not a local and/or unfortunate enough to have been born after the 1970s, you may be wondering who or what Aunty Jack is? This (the famed Aunty Jack song) may help explain. Perhaps even this. Then again perhaps not. Try this.
At present, Aunty Jack is hermetically sealed in a vault (as all six foot six moustachioed/sideburned aunties should be) at the National Film and Sound Archive in Canberra. As stated on IMDB, the show was deemed to be of such cultural significance that all master tapes and film were promptly archived.
"No one leaves Paris. No one."
A wonderful, yet quite schlocky horror film directed by the now acclaimed Peter Weir in 1974 'freaked the hell' out of me as a callow youth. The Cars That Ate Paris played with both the stereotype of the friendly, neighbourly country or outback town and its opposite – a terrifying backwater of uncivilised barbarity (with those barbarians often of the inbred variety). This was the era of John Boorman's Deliverance after all. Violently crashing cars, mangled bodies and freakish car creations seriously etched themselves onto an impressionable young teenager's mind (mine) back in the 70s.
The outback town of Paris derives its income from car accidents – or rather, car accidents that are deliberately caused. Valuables and parts of the cars are then sold off in between devising the next car accident and the next. Quite a Ballardian tale and one that features some great (well, interesting) car design and modifications. You could also say that it's a precursor to the Mad Max series and the very sinister and creepy Wolf Creek. Read on to see a 'video salute' to this quirky Australian cinematic treasure (of sorts) from the 1970s.
"Can you imagine what it would be like if black settlers arrived to settle a continent (Australia) inhabited by white natives?" Written by venerable comedy writer Geoffrey Atherden and winner of the United Nations Media Peace Prize in 1987. The above is the opening scene of the 30 minute film (make sure you watch till the end). More at IMDB.
To continue with the reconciliation theme, here's ex-PM Paul Keating's landmark Redfern speech from 1992. This was recently (and deservedly) voted the most important speech ever given in Australia.
